Chronicles of Hitaro: A New Youkai Age
by Jack Rhien
Summary: Hitaro is a youth who had just turned sixteen. His 16 years of life have been a living hell though. He has a somewhat inhuman attributes (including different colored hair, long nails and fangs, and rare eyes), he has very few friends, abusive guardians,
1. A New Arrival

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

I lied there on the ground. Blood poured from the gaping wound in my stomach as I breathed heavily. My eyes stared at the sky as the sun shined down on me. I heard someone screaming my name as footsteps pounded on the earth. The booms on the ground became louder and louder. They soon fell silent as a figure knelt down next to me and grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Hitaro!" A man shouted. "Hitaro!"

"Oh no!" A girl shouted. "Hitaro! Say something! This wound isn't good. Hold on!"

"Hitaro!" The man said again. "C'mon! Say anything! HITARO!"

That's me. I'm Hitaro. Right now, I'm on my deathbed. Well, not exactly. It's more like I'm on the cold hard ground. I bet your wondering a few things. Exactly who am I? What happened? And why am I dying right now? Well, I'll tell you before I pass on... that is, _if_, I pass on. Still with the way things are going, it isn't likely I'll get through this.

This all happened about three months ago. Back then, I was completely different in both personality, and looks. I had messy hair that was fairly long. It was about as black as space… or so it seemed. In truth, it was silver. It shone brightly in the moonlight. That was the only time I would show my true hair… at night. I had eyes that were a golden-amber color. I had an athletic body. It was muscular, yet limber. I was about five feet and five inches tall and weighed about one hundred-ten pounds. I'm proud to say it was all muscle. I still am though.

I wasn't completely normal though. I had some things that a dog would have. First of, I had fangs. I had elongated canine teeth. They were extremely sharp too. They made knives seem dull. Another thing that I had were extremely sharp nails. They were just like five swords on the tip of my hands. My eyes had a rare color. They were a brilliant golden-amber. I had rarely seen any one with those colored eyes.

Another little fact, I wasn't really human (and I still am not). This is not a lie. I have abnormal strength and speed. I have strength equivalent to that of five adults of impressive strength. As far as speed goes... imagine seeing a blur. You're not sure what it is. In fact, you're not sure if it was real in the first place. That blur would be me.

I had an aggressive personality. I always wanted to fight to keep myself entertained. I was also extremely stubborn. I would refuse to do anything that someone told me to do unless it had some benefit. I was also extremely smart-mouthed, I was cocky and always thought I could get away with everything. That isn't all. There were times when I would, "lose myself." I became a whole new being. I felt like I wanted to kill.

I was also extremely cold. All I felt was pain and anger because of how I was treated. I was an outcast to the rest of the world. I was constantly shunned out, insulted, and beaten. Worst of all, there were only a couple of people who stood up for me. I had a couple of friends, but that was it. I had no parents to give me any love at all. All I had were my drunkard aunt and uncle. Lousy trash. All they did was care about themselves. That made me even worse. The only thing colder then me, at the time, was the Antarctic.

I never knew about my parents. They dumped me with my aunt and uncle when I was young. I was only a couple of years old. I know nothing about them whatsoever. I don't even remember what they looked like. Feh. They probably forgot about me, so I felt it didn't matter if I forgot them.

Now I suppose I should tell you how this all happened in the first place. I remember it so vividly. I had just turned sixteen about thirteen days before it all happened. It was night and I was at my home in Tokyo. There were only two on. The first light was the lamp in the living room I was in. The other was the moon, which gave an illuminating glow across Japan. It was rather different. I couldn't figure out why it was so different that night. I soon learned why it was like that.

"Oh man this is as boring as hell," I muttered under my breath.

I was on the couch, leaning on the armrest with me eyes closed. I took in a deep breath and let out a deep sigh. My aunt and uncle had left an hour before hand. They were going to a party, just like they always did. And like usual, they left me at home. It wasn't like I wanted to go. They would have just beaten me with every chance they had. The more I was away from them, the happier I was.

"Why can't I have a different life?" I asked myself.

"Because you never take a chance," A voice echoed.

I opened my eyes and immediately got to my feet. I looked left and right. I had an angered look on my eyes. I couldn't believe someone said that! That was a direct insult. I tightened my hands until they were tight fists. I growled quietly as I continued to scan my house to see where that voice came from.

"What did you say," I said in a low voice.

"You never take a chance. Why do you always just sit by and just take what you get?"

"That's because this is all I'm given," I said angrily. "Now where are you? Show yourself!"

The door behind me opened up swiftly, creating a loud bang that flew threw my home. It echoed briefly, and then went silent. I turned around to see what happened. A man in a white robe was at the door. He wore a hood that concealed most of his face. He also wore a black sash and held a staff with an ornament on top. He had a smug grin.

"Amazing. Even the unknown doesn't seem to scare you."

"Don't give me that "I'm impressed" crap. Who are you?"

"I'm just a concerned individual. I've been watching you. You seem to live a depressing lifestyle."

"No crap, Sherlock. Now why are you here?"

"I've come to fix your lifestyle. I've come to offer you a chance to live the life you've always wanted. I've come to give you the good life. And as a "bonus," you may just learn about yourself."

"I know plenty about myself. Everyone hates me, nobody cares about me, and I'll beat the crap out of anyone who gets me POed. That includes you."

"If I were you, I wouldn't get cocky. You may be different, but I could still kill you right here."

"Oh yeah," I said with a grin. "Well, let's see about that!"

I shot forward at the man. I pulled my arm back and swung it at him. When my arm was about to make contact, he disappeared. I blinked a couple of times and looked around. He was gone. I growled quietly as my hand turned into a fist again.

"You coward!" I shouted. "You couldn't kill me! All you can do is run and hide!"

"Is that what you think?" The man's voice said. "Well you thought wrong. You see, I was going easy on you. Now I guess I'll have to teach you a little lesson."

I scoffed. This guy's is full of it I thought. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I soon opened them again. I felt a strange sensation. All of a sudden, I felt a force pull me to the ground. I let out a brief yelp. I landed with a loud thud. I groaned as I tried to move my arms to push myself up. I grunted as I tried to move them. I was paralyzed. And it wasn't just that. I felt my body moving on its own. An invisible force was pulling my arms back. I growled quietly in pain as I could feel them being pulled out of the sockets. My hands were being twisted. I groaned quietly.

"So what do you think now? Will you take up my proposition?"

"You little son of a... fine! I'll go with you! I'll go you cheap piece of crap!"

The sensation went away. I gasped as my arms went back into their sockets and my hands were in their normal position. I groaned as I pushed myself off of the ground. I turned my head to look at the door. The man stood there, waiting for me. He still had the sick grin on his face. I growled quietly as I stared at him. He raised his hand and motioned for me to follow him. I grunted as I followed him out the door. When I got out side, the door closed behind me. I quickly spun around and stared at it. I growled. I knew that I couldn't turn back now. I turned around and continued to follow the man.

It was dark now. The moon disappeared, leaving the land as dark as the mysteriousness of the man I was following. This made it extremely difficult to follow him. I couldn't tell where he was going. Even when I was a few feet away, I couldn't see him. I was glad when we arrived at our next stop twenty minutes later. It was at a site that was very memorable throughout Tokyo.

"Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine," Said the man.

"The Higurashi Shrine? But... why are we here? There can't be anything here except for..."

I was cut short. I saw a door open. I gasped and quickly pushed myself against a wall, hiding myself from view. I leaned over and checked out what was happening. A bright light came from the door that was opened. There was a silhouette of a girl. I stared at the figure as she left the house.

"Okay mom!" The girl said. "I'll see you later!"

She ran off to a shack. She opened the door, quickly slid inside, and closed the door. I stared at it for a while longer. Soon, I saw a quick, but brilliant flash. I stared in amazement. I felt myself being pulled by my curiosity. When it came to the unknown, I didn't fear it. In fact, it fueled me. The more mysterious it was, the more alive I felt. I always wanted to learn about the dark truth of everything. This was one of those things.

"So what's the secret for this place?"

I neared the shack. My footsteps echoed in my ears. I placed my hand on the handle of the door and pulled it back. I looked inside. It was dark and dry. I could see almost nothing. Except for some silhouettes, I was completely blind. I moved forward a few steps. I tripped as I missed a step to the stairs. I staggered forward and lost my balance. I fell to the ground with a loud thud. I grunted as I made contact with the hard wood. I growled as I pushed my self off of the ground. When I looked up, my vision suddenly became sharper. My eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. I could see. It couldn't see completely, but it was better.

I walked forward to what looked like a box. When I got closer, I realized that it was actually a well. I let out a puzzled grunt. As I stared at the well, I slowly neared it as if I was in a trance. I didn't let my eyes off of it. All I could do was get closer. I snapped out of it when I laid my hands on the edge. I shook my head. I looked around. It had become brighter. The clouds moved out of the way of the moon, creating an eerie glow. I looked down the well. I let out a sharp whistle. It echoed loudly.

"The Bone-Eater's Well," Said the hooded man. "It is the home of many youkais that have died. Their bones lay scattered all over the bottom of this well. However, that is not all that it is used for. It is also a connection between two worlds. It can take you to a whole a new time."

"How the hell do you know all this?" I asked, not turning my head. "You've actually checked this well out and turned out somewhere else?"

"Indeed I have."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because you are about to have some proof… by going into the well yourself."

I raised my head. I felt something poke me in the back. I quickly turned my head to find that he had his staff on my back. I let out a nervous grunt.

"Wait!" I started to say. "Don't even think…"

I couldn't finish. He pushed me with the staff. I staggered forward and grunted as I started to fall over the edge of the well. I tried to grab onto the side, but it was too late. I started to fall down the stone square well. I yelled loudly as I flew down the giant pit. Before darkness covered up the hole, I could see the man's sheepish grin.

During the fall, a vibrant blue light surrounded me. I stared at the neon glow that enveloped me. I felt a tingling sensation. I felt so strange. All I could do was spin around and look at everything around me. After a few seconds, it all disappeared. It was replaced with the rock hard ground. I yelled briefly before I made contact. I grunted as the whole front side of my body hit the cold stones. I groaned quietly as I lied there.

I coughed heavily as I pushed myself up. Instead of getting on my feet, I let myself slowly fall back and sit down against the wall. I rubbed my head. I looked up and growled quietly. I quickly got to my feet, not letting my eyes off of the surface.

"When I get up there, I'm going to beat that guy down. Even with those powers, he's going to wish that he wasn't born!"

I walked up to one of the walls and looked for a way to get out. I saw vines protruding from it. I grabbed it and started to pull myself up. I grabbed each vine that I could. Along the way, I grabbed a loose vine. I yanked it out of the stone and I began to fall. I let out a quick yell as I grabbed another vine. I looked down at the bottom of the ground. I had a nervous look grow on my face. I chuckled nervously.

"I think I'll get back to climbing up now!" I said to myself.

I picked up speed and moved even more quickly then before. I groaned nervously as I continued to pull myself to the top. When I got to the surface of the well I pulled myself over the edge and let myself fall to the ground. I panted quietly as I closed my eyes and let myself get a few moments of rest. I opened my eyes slowly. When I did, they opened up wider then my eyes ever have before. I saw the night sky. I slowly sat up, not letting my gaze loose upon the darkness of the space above me.

"What the hell? I'm outside?"

I looked around. There were no buildings in sight. I looked left and right trying to figure out what was going on. I scratched my head as I stood up. I was dumbfounded beyond belief. This was the most impossible thing that has ever happened to me. As I pondered the thoughts, a rustling sound broke the silence. I turned my head to look for where it came from. I growled quietly.

"Show yourself now and I won't have to make your life a living hell!"

An arrow came out of nowhere, emitting a loud whistle. It zipped past my head. My eyes opened wide as this happened. I turned my head to see the arrow stuck in the tree, about an inch from my head. I yelled in shock.

"Oh crap!" I shouted. "What's going on!"

"A youkai!" A voice shouted. "Get him!"

"Huh?" I said in a confused tone. "A youkai? Where?"

Another arrow flew towards me. I yelped as I ducked. I looked up, staring at the projectile. I groaned as I stared at it. I looked forward again. There were five people. Three of them had arrows. Another two had spears. They all wore kimonos. I stared in shock. They wore such primitive clothing. Where was I? The thoughts left my head when the three people with bows pulled back their arrows, getting ready to launch They had angered and bloodthirsty looks in their eyes. I growled quietly. I raised my hands. They flinched briefly. However, they didn't break eye contact with me.

"So you really think I'm a youkai? You people really are idiots."

"Don't try to trick us!" One of the men said. "We know you're a youkai! You have those long nails and fangs! And besides, you threatened us!"

"I wasn't threatening you!" I shouted. "I was trying to scare you off!"

"Don't lie!" Said another man.

He released the arrow. It whistled loudly. I ducked and caught it with my right hand. The man gasped as they stared at me. I gave them cold stares. I slowly stood up. I pulled my arm back, looking at the one who fired the arrow. He began to quaver. I had an evil grin on my face. I wasn't going to hit him. I was just going to screw with him. I launched the arrow. He yelled and stepped back. The arrow went into his heel. He let out a scream of pain as he fell to the ground. I stared at him in shock. Two of the men rushed to him and helped him up. The other two stared at me.

"You are a youkai!" One of them yelled. "I knew it!"

"No!" I said, starting to back up. "You don't understand! I wasn't aiming at him! I hit him by accident! I swear!"

"Silence! We'll kill you here and now!"

"Oh crap! I'm screwed!"

The men with bows launched more arrows at me. I ducked to the left as the arrows flew passed me. I quickly got to my feet and ran off. The men began to chase me. I breathed heavily as I tried to keep myself from running out of breath. The men yelled loudly as arrows continued to zip passed me. I growled in irritation, trying to make sense of everything.

"What the hell is all this? Did I go back in time or something? No! That's impossible! You can't just go back in time! It... wait... it was that guy! That SOB! I really will kill him when I find him! I-ll..."

Before I could finish, a branch seemed to have come out of nowhere. It made contact with my nose and I fell to the ground. I groaned loudly in pain as I grabbed my nose. I got to my feet and removed my hands from my face. It was stained with blood. I groaned.

"This is just great!" I muttered.

"He went over here!"

I turned my head to see the men appear out of nowhere. I ducked to the left, into some bushes. I took a deep breath and held it. I was perfectly still, waiting for the men to pass by. Instead of running by, they stopped right where I was. My eyes opened up wide in agitation. When would the torture end?

"Where is he?" One of the men said. "That youkai got away!"

"Blast!" Another said. "Now what do we do?"

I wondering if them going away would be an option. I was started to grow faint. I couldn't hold my breath much longer. I groaned quietly as I tried to hold my breath just a little longer. I heard one of them sigh as their footsteps traveled away. I peeked through the bushes. I couldn't see them. When I felt it was clear, I exhaled loudly and started breathing heavily.

"Oh God!" I said, gasping for air. "I thought they would never leave!"

I looked around. It was almost pitch black. I looked up at the sky. Clouds began to cover up the moon. I frowned. I suppose I could just go rest somewhere then head back home tomorrow. I looked around. It seemed like the only place I could sleep was under the trees. I grunted as I walked up to the one that had the most leaves. It was going to rain, I wanted to have something that would keep the rain away from me.

"I can't believe I'm resorting to this," I muttered to myself. "Ah screw it. I'm too tired to do anything right now."

I sat down and leaned against the hard wooden bark. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes. When I drifted into a sleep, I had a strange dream. There was a silver haired man with bright red eyes. He had blood stained on his face and a bloodthirsty grin. A jewel was held in his hand. I t glowed brightly with a black light. He was muscular and he was slowly walking towards a group of people. He laughed evilly. I experienced this nightmare through the rest of the night.

"Who is this boy?" A girl asked.

"I don't know," Another girl asked. "But look at his clothes! They look so strange! Is he a foreigner?"

"I'm not sure. Still... he is kind of cute."

I groaned quietly. I opened my eyes very slowly. The bright light stung my eyes. I blinked a couple of times. When my sight finally came into focus, I saw two girls standing above me. I blinked again. I could feel my face starting to turn red. They looked like they were about my age... and they were cute too. It took me a moment to realize that they were wearing kimonos.

"Oh!" The first girl said. "You're awake!"

"Uh... hello?" I said.

"Who are you?" Asked the second girl. "I've never seen you around here before."

"Um... my name is Hitaro."

"Hitaro? What an interesting name!"

"Is that a compliment?" I asked myself.

"Where did you come from?" The first girl asked. "Those clothes don't look like anything from here."

"I'm from Tokyo."

"To...ky...o? Where is that? Is it far away?"

I pondered the question. Now I knew this wasn't a joke. This was too weird to be a joke. I looked back at the well. I gave it a cold stare. The only thing that made me madder was that stupid SOB that sent me down here.

"In a way, you could say that," I told them.

"Oh wow!" The second girl said. "What's it like?"

"Uh... it's very busy. People are always walking around non-stop."

I looked at them. They had eager faces on their faces. A grin grew on my face. I could see where this was going to lead. I decided to tell them more... with a bit of a stretched truth.

"There are "palaces" everywhere too! They are so tall they reach the sky! And there are many "carriages" that pull themselves! But that's not all! Evil thieves and fighters are always prowling the streets at night! They carry "hand-cannons" with them!"

"Oh wow!" The two girls said in unison. "So amazing!"

I wasn't really lying to them. I was referring to the sky-scrapers as the palaces, cars as carriages, fighters and thieves as thugs and... well, thieves, and guns as hand-cannons. They were so amazed that they were right in my face.

"How do you live in a place like that?" The first asked.

"Simple... I fight. It's the only way I can survive."

"Are you good?" The second one asked me.

"Are you kidding? I could fight off ten people at least! I have to do it so many times that it's just a warm-up exercise now!"

The girls giggled with delight. That part I was being completely honest about. I did have to fight the occasional group of people. And they weren't pushover's. They were still pretty easy.

"Hatori?" A man called out. "Yoko? Where are you?"

I looked to see where the man called out from. I growled. I hid behind the tree I was under. The two girls looked at me. The had curious looks.

"Why are you hiding?" The first one asked.

"Uh... some people have the wrong impression of me. I don't want to make things worse."

"I see," The second one said. "Well, we must go now. Sorry Hitaro! I hope we'll see you later!"

The two girls smiled at me as they walked off. I looked at the man who was calling out the girls. It wasn't any one the ones from yesterday. I let out a sigh. I was safe. I didn't want to spark anything else up. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. An arrow zoomed right into the tree. It was an inch away from my head. I gasped as I moved back. I turned my head to the left to see five men with arrows. I groaned in irritation.

"Don't you guys have anything else to do besides bug me?"

"Silence youkai!" One of them said. "This time we won't let you escape!"

"Yeah right!" I said in a cocky tone. "Just watch me!" I dashed towards them with incredible speed and agility. I punched one of them in the face, making him fly into one of the men. I kicked another one in the stomach, making him double over in pain. When I saw the other two, they had their arrows pulled back. I ran towards them then hurtled over their heads. I laughed triumphantly as they stared at me in shock.

"See you later, ch- AHHH!"

A net came up from under the ground and pulled me up. It stopped abruptly. I grunted as I tried to move around the net so I could see what happened. When I was in an upright position, I looked up. The net was being held up by a rope from another tree. I growled loudly. They set a trap! I can't believe I didn't see it.

"Ah hah!" A man said. "I bet you don't feel so high and mighty now, do you youkai?"

"Oh shut up!" I said angrily. "I was only careless! And I'm not a youkai!"

"Silence! Now be good and we may not kill you on the spot!"

I growled loudly. I crossed my arms and leaned against the netting. This was just perfect. I was stuck in the time of God knows when, I was stuck in a net, and I was probably on my way to my death. How could it have gotten worse?

"Make way! We have a youkai in this net! Stay back! He won't hesitate to attack! He attacked Shidoko yesterday! He attacked me and comrades too just a short while ago!"

I growled quietly. It just got worse. I was being exploited as a youkai in front of a village filled with people I didn't know. To make things worse, I didn't have a chance of getting out of this. As the net was being dragged against the dirt (along with myself, might I add), I looked left and right at the people. They all stared at me with disbelieving eyes.

"Boo," I said.

They backed up. I groaned. What morons I thought. These people really were fools. I just barely turned sixteen and they think I'm going to bring their doom to them. We soon came to a stop. They cut the net. They weren't completely stupid though. As they did so, they kept their arrows aimed at my head. I growled even more loudly. My arms and legs were crossed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do much.

"Man, this blows," I muttered.

"Make way for high priestess Kaede!"

The people spread out even more than before. On a horse came a person in a white topped, red bottom kimono. It looked like a woman in her fifties or sixties. She was overweight and she had an eye-patch. Her hair was a dull grey and her skin was fairly wrinkled. I scoffed.

"Oh great. Don't tell me _you're_ the one who's going to kill me."

"Silence youkai!" A man said.

The man took a hammer and whacked me in the head with it. I yelled out in pain as I grabbed the back of my skull. I groaned loudly as I gave the man an angered look.

"What the hell did you that for you crazy loon?!"

"I said silence!"

He hit me in the head again with the hammer. I yelled out again. I growled loudly as I held onto my head. I looked at the one they called Kaede again. She was walking towards me. My eyes narrowed. If she was going to kill me, I wasn't going down without a fight. As she neared, my hands began to twitch. I wanted to have a fight. I was eager. However, my hopes died down when she stopped in front of me. She just stared at me.

"State thine name," She said.

"For you? Why should I?"

"Show Lady Kaede some respect!"

He hit me in the head with the hammer again. I yelled out in agonizing pain. Now that was just getting plain irritating. I looked at the man and gave him a pleading look.

"Why do you keep on doing that?!"

"Tell Lady Kaede who you are!"

"Oh fine!" I said, turning to face Lady Kaede. "My name's Hitaro! Are you happy?"

"Where art thou from?"

"Geez! What is this, twenty questions? I'm from Tokyo! I doubt that you heard of it though!"

Her eye opened wide (I'd say eyes, but I doubted there being an eye under that patch). She gave me a curious look. I gave her a puzzled look. I didn't know why she was staring at me. She soon coughed to clear out her throat. She looked at everyone.

"This boy poses no harm!" She said. "He is not a youkai!"

I stared at her with disbelief. That's it? I said I was from Tokyo and she said I wasn't a youkai. I shook my head in disbelief. She motioned for me to stand up. I slowly stood up. I looked at the men. They lowered their arrows. I grinned evilly. They had nervous looks on their faces. I faked a step. They flinched. I chuckled quietly.

"She's only half right. I may not be a youkai, but I'm not harmless."

I turned around to look at Kaede. She motioned for me to follow her. I nodded as I trailed behind her. As I did so. I looked at everyone. They were still staring at me. I had an uncomfortable look on my face. Now this just felt plain creepy. I shook the thoughts away as I saw Kaede walk into a hut. I followed her inside.

I looked around. It

was fairly spacious. There was a bed in the corner and a fireplace at the eastern wall. In the center of the room was what looked like a grill in the ground. It was a stoney area with burning charcoal on the inside. Above it was a pot that held stew. Its aroma filled the air. Kaede sat next to the pot and started stirring it up. She gave me a brief glance.

"Sit down," she said.

"Uh... right."

I walked up to are with the pot and sat down next to it. I crossed my legs and let my head dip back for a little while. After a few seconds, I looked at Kaede again. She continued to stir the pot as if I was not around.

"Well... thanks for helping me out there. I'm surprised you actually didn't think I was a youkai."

"I didn't _think_ thou was not a youkai. I _knew_. When you said the name "Tokyo," I knew thou was not a youkai."

"And how did you know?"

"Because Kagome is from Tokyo also."

"Huh? You mean Tokyo also exists here?"

"No it does not here in the Feudal Era. It only exists in the "Present," as Kagome calls it."

It was then I knew I was not the only one who had traveled through the well. I knew that the man had traveled through, but that was an exception. I meant I wasn't the only _normal _person. A small grin grew on my face.

"So I'm not alone."

Kaede nodded. She squinted as she stared at me. She got a little closer. I gave her a confused look.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"Thine face... it looks like... someone else's."

She inspected nearly every segment of face. I didn't know who she was talking about until later. The only clue I had was that the person's name was Inuyasha. Kaede muttered it every now and then. When she was done, she sat back down.

"Amazing," Kaede muttered. "So similar. Could it be that..."

"Excuse me, but what are you talking about? Better yet, _who_ are you talking about?"

'Oh. Allow me to explain. In this village, there is a hanyou named Inuyasha. He had been searching for the Shikon no Tama. Right now, he is more of a protector of the village."

"A hanyou? But I thought these people hated youkais and hanyous (which I figured after the way they treated me)."

"Only ones they don't know. Inuyasha has been with us for quite a while."

I stared at her for a while. I was pondering the thought of having someone look like me in this time. I could see myself in a kimono. A grin grew on my face. The thought of it was rather funny.

"Oh boy," I muttered. "How stupid would I look?"

"Ye seem to share similar personalities as well."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Both of thee seem rather dismissive about certain things, ye seem rather proud, thou has a cocky attitude, ye have a love of fighting, and also..."

"Alright! I get the picture! Oi. I think I'm beginning to think it would be better to stay with my aunt and uncle."

"You must forget about them. In the mean time, we must wait for Inuyasha and the others."

"Oh great. We have to wait. This will be fun."

I sat there in the hut. I couldn't keep still. I was constantly looking left and right. Either I was imagining things or time was slowing down. I looked at my watch. I blinked a couple of times. It was slowing down! It took _two_ seconds for it to move _one_ second! I let out a groan of exasperation.

"You've got to be kidding me! How long do I have to wait here?"

"It shouldn't be much longer," Kaede said calmly.

"I better not!" I said loudly. "I can't wait any longer! If I have to wait five more minutes, I'm going to crack! Oi! Why can't they hurry it up?"

I could here footsteps in the distant. I turned my head and looked at the entryway to the hut. The footsteps grew louder. A grin grew on my face. That better be them I thought. I seriously did. If that wasn't them, I was going to leave this place. On second thought... did I really want to be back at my home? Hell no I didn't.

"Lady Kaede!" A girl called out. "We're back!"

"Huh?" I said quietly. "That voice... it sounds familiar."

A girl came into the hut. She had a long black hair, looked like she was about my age, and she wore a school uniform. I stared at her. It finally hit. It was that girl I saw the night before! I stared at her with wide eyes. Kagome did the same.

"Who are you?" She asked. "Are you related to Inuyasha?"

"I..."

"Hey Kagome!" A someone else shouted. "Who are you talkin' to?"

"Uh, Inuyasha?" The girl asked. "Do have any other relatives that you haven't told me about?"

"No," said the man again, entering the hut. "If I did, I would have told you already."

When the man came in we immediately stared at each other. He had golden-amber eyes, silver hair, sharp nails that looked like knives, a red kimono, a sword at his side, and a face that looked so mine. He looked like he was only a year or two older than me. We blinked twice. I assumed that was Inuyasha. He turned his head to face the one that I assumed was Kagome.

"Who the hell is this?" He asked.

"That's what I was asking you," Kagome said. "I figured that he was related to you because you two looked so much alike."

"Well as you can see, I don't know this kid," Inuyasha replied.

He turned his head to face me. I was still staring at him. I was still in complete amazement that he looked so much like me. He gave me an agitated look. I looked up a bit. I noticed that he had two dog ears on the top of his head. I stared at them amazement.

"If you don't take your eyes off of those right now, I'll do it for you."

"Inuyasha!"

"What?" He said. "That kid's staring at my ears! You'd do the same thing too if you had 'em."

"My name's Hitaro," I said.

"What?" Inuyasha said as he turned his head to face me.

"My name's Hitaro. I'm not a kid."

"You look like one to me," he said with a grin.

"At least I don't look like I'm in a costume," I replied with a cold look.

"What did you say?!"

We locked eyes. I could see sparks in his eyes. If he looked hard enough, he would have seen flames in my eyes. We both growled quietly. Kagome walked up to us, chuckling nervously as she tried to separate us.

"Okay!" Kagome said. "That should be enough for now! We don't want to start anything right now, do we?"

"Stay out of this!" Inuyasha and I said in unison.

Kagome flinched. She saw something in us that spooked her out. When I had that look, that meant stay the hell out of my way. It seemed like the same for Inuyasha. After a while, I just scoffed and turned away. Inuyasha gave me a surprised look.

"That's it?"

"I've got better things to do," I replied.

"Oh really? Like what?"

"I... I... I don't have anything. Okay?"

"Hah. Thought so. So you're just giving up?"

"Nope. I just got tired of staring at your face for the past minute."

"That's enough!" Kaede said firmly. "Thou must stop this petty squabbling!"

I stared at Kaede. Inuyasha did too. I could tell that the both of us just wanted to ignore her, but we couldn't. We both let out sighs of irritation.

"Fine," we said.

Kagome continued to stare at us. I didn't know exactly what she was thinking, but I had plenty of ideas. She was thinking how we looked alike, possibly wondering if we acted alike, and perhaps she was wondering how the hell I got here in the first place.

"So where's Shippo, Miroku and Sango?" Inuyasha asked.

"Shippo went out to help me gather some herbs," Kagome said. "He should be back soon. As for Miroku and Sango, I haven't seen them."

"Knowing Miroku, he's probably chasing Sango around."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was."

"Okay, now I have a couple more questions," I said. "First off, who the hell are they? Second off, are they youkais and hanyous too?"

"Well, Shippo is," Kagome replied. "He's a kitsune. Sango and Miroku are human. Sango's a youkai slayer. Miroku's a monk."

"He's a also a huge lecher," Inuyasha said.

"Hooray," I muttered under my breath. "A womanizing monk."

"My thoughts exactly," Inuyasha said.

I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. He gave me a funny look. When our eyes made contact, we didn't go into a stare down. Instead, a small grin appeared out of nowhere. He grinned too, although it was considerably smaller then mine. Mine soon disappeared and I looked away.

"Kagome!" A young voice shouted. "I'm back! I found some herbs!"

'Oh!" Kagome said in surprise. "There's Shippo! I was wondering when he would be back."

I looked at the door. FInally, I would see a powerful kitsune here and now I thought. I quickly stood up and headed towards the door. I moved the door of wheat and looked around. I had a puzzled look on my face. There was no one there. I looked left and right. I couldn't see him.

"Kagome? I don't see Shippo."

"I'm down here!" The voice said. I grunted and looked down. At my feet... was a kid. He had brown hair that was tied in the end with a blue bow tie. He wore a blue shirt with a pattern design on it. He also wore dark blue pants and a brown vest. He had a fox tail protruding out from the back and he had fox feet. The only thing that really surprised me was his height. He was tall enough that his head was past my knee. I blinked twice. He just stared at me.

"Inuyasha? Is that you? I thought you only looked like that during the new moon!"

"I'm in here, Shippo!" Inuyasha said loudly.

Shippo peeked over the side. He stared at Inuyasha for a little while. He soon changed his gaze back to me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Hitaro," I replied, not letting my eyes off of him. "You're Shippo, I presume?"

"Yep," He said with a smile. "I'm a great and powerful kitsune!"

After staring at him for a few seconds more, I looked at Kagome. I had a bewildered look on my face.

"_This_, is Shippo? You're telling me this midget of a kid is a kitsune?!"

"Hey! Don't insult me! I may be small, but I'm still a youkai!"

"You look pretty weak to me," I said, kneeling down next to him.

"Humph! You look _and_ act like Inuyasha!" He replied.

Inuyasha stared at Shippo. Shippo paid no attention to him, though. Inuyasha stood up and walked towards him. I noticed that Inuyasha's right hand had become a fist. When he stood directly above Shippo, he gave him a whack to the head. Shippo yelped in pain as he grabbed his head. He gave Inuyasha a dirty look.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome said loudly.

"Hey!" Shippo said angrily. "What did you do that for?"

"Next time you better watch your mouth Shippo," Inuyasha said.

"Woah!" I said in surprise. "Inuyasha! Take it easy! Even I wouldn't have done that to the kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" Shippo said.

"I'm helping you out right now, aren't I?" I asked coldly.

I gave him a stare that made Shippo pipe down. I nodded as I turned my head to face Inuyasha. He gave me a look that showed he didn't really care about what I was going to say next.

"Geez, are you always this stubborn?" I asked.

"Look who's talking," he replied. "You're being pretty stubborn yourself."

"I wonder how long they're going to fight like this," Kagome asked Kaede.

"Be patient, Kagome. They will stop in due time."

"That's it!" I said firmly. "I should just beat you down right now!"

"Forget it, kid," Inuyasha said firmly. "You'd just be embarrassing yourself."

"Oh really? Well let's just see!"

I shot a fist at his face. He moved swiftly to the side. He had a surprised look on his face. Soon, a grin appeared. He threw a punch of his own. I ducked and avoided it... barely. I shot forward and tackled him to the ground. When he landed, he immediately got me in a headlock and started punching me in the head.

"You little punk!" He shouted. "I'm a gonna get you for that!"

"OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"INUYASHA!" Kagome yelled out firmly.

"What?" He said. "I'm teaching him a lesson!"

I gave him an elbow to the face. He gasped in pain as he staggered back. He grabbed his nose. I grinned as I crossed my arms and stared at him. He growled loudly as he gave me an evil stare.

"And that's the lesson of the day," I said. "Don't screw with me."

"Enough!" Kaede yelled out. "Ye two have gone far enough! If thou does not stop this, ye two will destroy the whole village!"

We stared at Kaede. We shifted our gazes to Kagome, who gave us an agitated stare. We moved our gazes to stare at each other. We narrowed our eyes and gave each other cold stares. How was it that we seemed so alike? It didn't matter. I scoffed and turned around. I headed out the door as everyone stared at me.

"Where are you going, Hitaro?" Kagome asked me.

"I'm going to show Inuyasha here I'm not a kid," I replied.

"We already know you're not a kid," Shippo said.

"I meant a weak kid."

I walked outside and soon heard footsteps. I looked behind me to Kagome, Shippo, Kaede and Inuyasha. He had an irritated look on his face. I grinned. This would shut his mouth for now. I looked around. There had to be something heavy around here I thought. I soon found just the thing. There was a huge boulder that I saw near the forest. I broke into a run. The others began to follow me. Inuyasha easily caught up to me.

"Hitaro, slow down!" Kagome said.

"Come on!" Shippo said. "You're too fast!"

I quickly halted to a stop. I glanced at Inuyasha who was walking up to me. I gave him a cautious stare. When he stopped, he gave me stare of his own. I growled quietly. A grin cracked on his face. My face changed into a face of surprise. What was he grinning about now?

"You're pretty fast, kid. I'm impressed."

"Uh... thanks," I replied.

I soon took my eyes off of Inuyasha to look at Kagome, Kaede and Shippo. It took them long enough to get here. I grinned as they arrived. They had puzzled looks on there faces.

"What are we doing here?" Kagome asked. "There isn't anything here!"

"Yeah!" Shippo said. "The only thing here is that big rock!"

"Is there a reason why ye brought us here, Hitaro?"

"Yeah. I have a reason. I told you all that I would show you I'm not a kid. I'm going to do that."

"Hitaro, you don't need to do that?" Kagome said. "Like Shippo said, we know you're not a kid. You're..."

Kagome began to trail off, trying to think of something. I crossed my arms and gave her a look. I let out a groan as I let my arms fall loosely to my side. I waited for some words.

"Well?" I finally asked.

"Well... you're... a little different from what I've seen," She said. "You ran faster then what seemed possible, you actually hurt Inuyasha..."

"Hey!" Inuyasha said irritably. "He didn't hurt me. He just surprised me."

"Yeah right," Shippo muttered. "You're just to stubborn to admit it."

Inuyasha rose his foot and stomped on Shippo. Shippo yelped in shock as the foot unexpectedly pushed him to the ground. Inuyasha gave him an evil look.

"Care to say that again?" Inuyasha asked.

"Inuyasha," Kaede began to say. "Let Shippo be. He does speak some truth."

Inuyasha growled loudly as he rose his foot off of Shippo. Shippo stood on his feet and dusted himself off. He gave Inuyasha a dirty look. Inuyasha just grunted and looked away. I shook my head and rested it on my hand. He was more stubborn than I thought. I rose my head and looked at the boulder again. I forgot that was there.

"Now, time for me to get back on track," I said.

"Just what are you going to do, kid?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just shut up and watch."

I walked up to the boulder and examined it. It was a big one alright. It looked like it weighed a little more than half a ton. Then again, it could have been more or less. Still, lifting this would leave them speechless. I stretched out my arms, put my fingers between one another, and cracked my knuckles. I grinned as I continued to stare at the boulder. I knelt down and put my fingers underneath it. I started trying to lift it. As I did this, everyone was just staring at me like I was some kind of loon.

"Hitaro!" Kagome said in shock. "You don't have to prove anything! Besides, you're going to hurt yourself!"

"He is as foolish as he is young," Kaede said.

"No," Shippo began to say. "I think he's just going crazy already."

"For once, I agree with you," Inuyasha said.

I ignored them. I growled as I tried to use more force. Soon, I felt a shift. The boulder began to rise. Even stared at me with wide eyes. I lifted up on end high above my head. I grinned. I stretched out my left arm to put my hand under the other side. I began to push up with as much strength as possible that side began to rise into the air too. Shippo and Kagome gasped loudly.

"Wow!" Shippo said excitedly. "That's amazing! I can't believe your doing that Hitaro!"

"How... is that possible?" Kagome asked as she stared at the boulder above my head.

Inuyasha stared at me. He had a completely bewildered look on his face. I grinned with pride as I stared at Inuyasha and the others. I didn't notice it, but villagers were passing by. They were as surprised about my stunt as Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo and Kaede.

"AHHH!" one of them screamed. "HE IS A YOUKAI! THEY WERE RIGHT!"

"HE'LL KILL US ALL!" another shouted.

I ignored their comments. I was no youkai, I thought. I thought how I was all that right then and there. I felt extremely proud right there. I showed them what I was capable of. And then... things went wrong.

"So what do you think of me... now?" I said in a cocky voice which soon turned into a worried one.

My legs, they began to sink slightly into the ground. My arms were giving way. When I noticed this, my face went extremely pale and I yelled out in fear.

"Ah crap! Now I'm screwed!"

Kagome gasped and Shippo yelped loudly. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha by the collar of his Kimono and started to shake him.

"Inuyasha! Do something!"

"No way," he said. "He got himself into it, he'll have to get himself out!"

I groaned as my arms and legs went numb. I had a panicked look on my face. If somebody didn't do something, I was going to end up extremely flat. I growled in agitation as Kagome and Inuyasha started fighting.

"I can't believe your so self-centered!" Kagome said angrily. "You have to help him! You drove him to do this in the first place?"

"What?" Inuyasha replied. "I didn't do anything! He went and did this on his own!"

"After you kept calling him a kid!"

"I didn't mean it that way!"

"Then how _did _you mean it?"

"HEY!" I shouted. "I need help!"

Kagome looked at me. She had an embarrassed look on her face. Apparently she forgot about me. When she looked at Inuyasha, her face went sour again.

"Inuyasha, if you don't do something, I'll say the word," Kagome said coldly.

His eyes opened up slightly wider. His face had a hint of fear in it. He growled quietly as his face went back to his previous one and he walked towards me. He put his hands under the boulder and lifted it. He grunted quietly. His arms shook a little, but he still easily held it up. He threw it to the side and I fell to my knees. I gasped as I tried to catch my breath again. I breathed and sweated heavily. The beads fell from face and onto the earth as my lungs pumped air in and out. Inuyasha stared at me. He then let out a groan as he grabbed me by the arm and helped me up.

"You okay, kid?" Inuyasha asked.

"I... told you," I said out of breath. "I'm... not... a kid."

"You are to me," he said. "Now shut up. You used up your strength. Just rest."

I gave him a look. I didn't think he'd say something like that. He actually had some sympathy. I nodded as I continued to stare at him. He let go of me. My legs began to gave way. I grunted as I tried to keep my balance. I gave Inuyasha a cold look. However, he was already walking off. I growled quietly.

"Thanks a bunch," I muttered.

I groaned as I began to sink to the ground. I felt someone help me up. I looked to see who it was. It was Kagome. I had a surprised look on my face. I blinked a couple of times. She had an apologetic look in her eyes.

"Sorry about Inuyasha," she said. "He can be a little pig-headed at times."

"I could see that," I replied.

I groaned as I tried to move. My body felt almost completely numb. Kagome began to help me to the hut. As she did so, I stared at Inuyasha. Why did I feel like I belonged here with this... hanyou around? I knew that we were connected. There was no question about it. But how? I could not ask myself the question much longer. When I got into the hut, I went straight to sleep. However, I felt rather... uncomfortable.


	2. Setting Off

I was having a strange dream. No... not a dream. It was a nightmare. It wasn't an old one though. Since I turned sixteen, I've been plagued by the dream. In the dream, There was a bloody figure standing on the earth. His eyes were completely red. He had long nails that looked like switchblades. He had huge fangs that gleamed brightly in his evil grin. He had silver hair that was stained red. Blood pounded the ground, creating a crimson puddle that grew slowly. He soon began to walk towards several other figures. His fingers twitched as his grin grew wider.

_"The rest of you are next,"_ he said.

It was just like before and after I got here, but there was more this time. He rose his claws and slashed at the people. They let out loud screams of pain and fear. The figure laughed with sick delight. He slashed to his heart's content. He continued to laugh with evil in his voice. I wanted it to end. I wanted it to go away. I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. I just wanted to yell out and scream. I just wanted out! Why couldn't I get out of this nightmare from hell!

_"Hitaro?"_ A voice said. _"Hitaro! Hitaro!"_

My eyes opened and I shot up. I let out a quick gasp as I slowly came back to the real world. I blinked twice and looked around. I was in Kaede's hut, sleeping in a bed. I was breathing heavily. When would that nightmare stop? Why did it seem so real? I shook my head. I had to forget about it. I opened my eyes and looked to the left. I saw Shippo standing there. I gave him a puzzled grunt.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Kagome wanted me to see if you were awake yet," he replied. "You didn't look very comfortable, though. Did you get any sleep?"

I stared at him for a little bit. I groaned and let my body plop back down. When I hit the ground, a loud thump echoed inside. I looked at Shippo and nodded. I wished I didn't get any sleep though. It would have been better than seeing that nightmare again.

"How about you?" I asked.

"Yep! I got plenty of sleep! Although it was kind of late when I went to bed."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Last night we kinda had a meeting."

"A meeting? For what?"

"It was about you," he said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh really?" I asked as my eyes narrowed. "I have an idea of what you were talking about. It was about the boulder thing, right?"

"Actually, it wasn't really about that."

I gave him a surprised look. They weren't talking about that? What else could they talk about? Was it what about my coming here? Was it about me looking like Inuyasha? Was it about something else?

"What were they talking about?" I asked.

"How did it go again?" Shippo said to himself. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! It was like this!"

I assumed that it was night from what Shippo told me. There was a pot of stew boiling over burning charcoal. Kaede stirred the pot rather slowly as Inuyasha sat in the room with his arms crossed. He looked at the room that I slept in as Kagome exited the room. She let out a quiet sigh as she sat down between Kaede and Inuyasha. Inuyasha turned his head to face Kagome.

"So how's the kid doing?" He asked her.

"Is he okay?" Shippo asked. "It looked like he used a lot of energy trying to lift that boulder out there."

"He's fine," Kagome replied. "He's just resting up. He really needs it too."

"You're right about that," Inuyasha said. "He deserves that for trying to show off."

"Mind you, but you pushed him to do so," Kagome said with a sharp look.

"I did not!" He yelled out. "That kid was just arrogant enough to do that on his own!"

"Yeah," Shippo said. "Like you."

"Cram it, Shippo!"

He whacked Shippo on the head. Shippo yelped as he grabbed his skull. He groaned quietly as he rubbed his head. Inuyasha crossed his arms and let out an annoyed grunt. He shifted his eyes to look at Kagome. She was giving him an irritated look.

"What?"

"You really are impossible sometimes, Inuyasha," Kagome muttered.

Inuyasha growled quietly and looked away. Kaede looked at the two of them and sighed. She muttered something under her breath as she moved the pot to the floor. She looked at Kagome and Inuyasha again. It took her a while to finally interrupt the growing argument.

"I believe that Hitaro has a connection to Inuyasha."

When she said that, that automatically caught everyone's attention. Their angered faces turned to that of curiosity as they turned their heads to face Kaede. She had a serious look on her face.

"Really? So you think that Hitaro is connected to Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"There is no doubt in my mind," Kaede replied. "There are too many similarities between the two."

"No there isn't," Inuyasha.

"Actually, you're both look really similar," Kagome said.

"And you're both really stubborn," Shippo said.

"And not to mention you're both a pretty arrogant."

"Plus you're both loudmouthed."

As Kagome and Shippo went on, Inuyasha turned his head left and right, trying to keep up with their comments. An irritated look grew on his face. He growled quietly as his hand tightened into a fist. He finally couldn't keep it on anymore. He just had to say something.

"Okay! I get the point!"

"Thank you for agreeing with us," Kaede said.

Inuyasha growled quietly as his head dipped down. Anyone could tell at the moment that he was now in an even worse mood. Everyone gazed at him. As Shippo continued to tell me this story, a question tickled my mind. Exactly what was Inuyasha thinking?

"So Kaede, how do you think Inuyasha is connected with Hitaro?" Kagome asked.

"Well, there are two possibilities," Kaede said. "The first possibility is that Hitaro is a reincarnation of Inuyasha."

"Reincarnation?" Inuyasha said. "Are you saying that I'm going to killed?"

"There is a chance. Although it would be more unlikely than the other possibility."

"You're right about that! I'm too strong to be killed!"

"If you were to be killed, I would have to say your arrogance was the cause of it."

Inuyasha gave her an irritated glare. He crossed his arms as he let out a quiet annoyed grunt. Kagome looked at him briefly. She let out a sigh as she turned her head to face Kaede again. Inuyasha was still looking away.

"So what's the other possibility?" Kagome asked.

"Are you sure that he could be something else besides a reincarnation?" Shippo asked.

"Of course," Kaede said. "He could also be a descendant of Inuyasha... and someone else of course."

When Kaede said that, Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes opened wide and they looked at each other. Both their faces turned a deep crimson red as they shifted their heads and looked in opposite directions. Shippo was constantly moving his eyes, shifting his gaze between Inuyasha and Kagome. He then looked at Kaede.

"So you think Hitaro might be a descendant of Inuyasha and Kagome?"

"It is a possibility," Kaede replied.

"Now hold on!" Kagome said nervously. "Inuyasha and I may be close, but I don't think we would go that far anytime soon!"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said firmly. "That would only happen if we got married. Problem is, she always needs to go back to her home."

Kagome looked at Inuyasha, whose face was still red. Kagome let out a sigh as Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked away again. The room fell silent. For a few minutes, no one uttered a single word. If you ask me, you could have heard someone shout from another country. Once again, Kaede was the one to break the silence.

"There are some... other matters I must speak of."

"What's that?" Shippo asked.

"Apparently, a strange disease has been breaking out in the north. However, this disease is not normal. In fact, it is quite potent. Although it has only just started some days ago, it has already taken over a village. This is mostly because the disease is involved with a youkai. Apparently, it is a necromancer type."

"You mean it can raise the dead?" Kagome asked.

"Yes. That is what the disease correlates with. This disease has the ability to resurrect the dead. When this happens, they carry the disease with them. When they feast on a carcass, that body will become undead as well. Of course, this means we must put an end to it as soon as possible."

"And when you say we, you mean Kagome, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and myself, right?" Inuyasha asked.

"Correct."

"Great. We're always stuck with the dirty work. Oh well, at least this will give me something to do. I needed something to kill."

"But what about Hitaro?" Shippo asked. "What should he do?"

"Yeah," Kagome began to say. "Should he come with us or should try to go home?"

"I am not certain. After his... demonstration, he might be a valuable asset. He could be helpful on the trip. However, he might just be risking his life if he comes along. Perhaps we should make it his decision."

I listened to Shippo as he finished off his explanation. I stared at him with some surprise. So I was a reincarnation of Inuyasha... well, I assumed. The only person who could have had... relations with Inuyasha was Kagome. Chances of her getting together with Inuyasha like that weren't bloody likely.

I blew upwards, moving some of the hair that was in front of my eyes.

"So you all think I'm his descendant or something?" I asked quietly.

"Yep! There's no doubt about it!"

"Also... you think I'm stubborn and loudmouthed like he is?" I asked coldly.

Shippo flinched. An evil grin grew upon my lips. I placed my hand on my fist and pushed forward, emitting a sickening series of cracks. Shippo backed up as he quivered and whimpered quietly. I rose my arm into the air and prepared to slam him in the head. He shrieked and covered his head with with hands. I stopped right above his hair. I gave him a small tap on the head. A small knock resonated in the room. He let out a puzzled grunt as he opened his eyes and slowly looked up at me. I smirked.

"Maybe that'll teach ya," I said jokingly.

"You mean... you're not actually going to hit me?" Shippo asked.

"Nah. I figure Inuyasha has been doing that a lot. Why should I make it any worse?"

Shippo let out a sigh of relief. I smiled, chuckling lightly. He should have been glad I was more sympathetic than Inuyasha was. I could already tell he didn't let anything go by. My mind went into deep thought. Why was he so defensive? Did he really have some soft spot? I pondered the thought. A lot of people had it. As for me... well, I showed it more than you would think... around my friends anyway. My thoughts were soon interrupted, however, as I felt something tug at my shirt sleeve. My eyes widened as I turned my head and looked down. Shippo wrapped a hand around a small segment of my sleeve.

"Uh... yeah?"

"I forgot to tell you something," Shippo said. "Inuyasha and the others are getting prepared."

"So they're not around?"

Shippo shook his head. I gave him a funny look. I let out a sigh as I leaned against the wall. Great. I was stuck here with no one except for Shippo. It wasn't that I minded being around him. What I did mind was that there was no one that I could really talk to about this whole ordeal. Shippo seemed a bit young to talk to him about important things.

"Um... if you want, I could show you around the village."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Sure! Since no one else is here I could do that!"

I grinned. This kid wasn't as bad as I thought. He was actually all right. I nodded to him as I slowly began to stand up. I let out a groan. My body felt extremely sore. The pain lingered in my limbs. It felt like they were slowly being pried apart. This was one of those moments that I was glad that people tried to put a pounding on me so many times. It made the pain seem less significant. However, the pain became weaker when a thought came to mind. I wondered how the hell was I even standing after lifting that thing? Was I really that inhuman?

"Wow! You're actually standing!"

The puzzled look that grew on my face disappeared as I turned my head to look at Shippo. He had an interested look that was mixed with an odd smile. I grinned nervously as I moved my arm to scratch the back of my head. As I did so, there was a loud pop. I grunted quietly. My eyes moved to the side, glancing at my elbow. The pain was coming from there. I groaned quietly.

"I can't believe it either," I said with gritted teeth.

I let my arm drop to the side. The pain disappeared and a certain lifelessness took over the arm as it began to feel numb. I moaned as I shook it off. I seriously should not have been standing. I turned my head to face Shippo. I forced him a smile.

"Can we start the tour now?"

"Right!"

I turned around, walking around the corner of the door. Silent groans filled my mouth, wanting and waiting to turn into screams. They wouldn't escape. I've had worse. I knew how to deal with pain. All I had to do was take it easy. It seemed simple enough. Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on one thing...

"Hitaro! Could I have a ride?"

"Wait! Hold on a..."

I couldn't finish. He suddenly jumped right on my shoulder. Right when his feet made contact, I grunted loudly. My body slowly began to sink. When my legs couldn't take it anymore, I completely gave way and collapsed to the floor. A huge thud came from body as dust flew up into the air. I yelped quietly. I slowly turned my head to look at Shippo. I gave him a cold look as I growled quietly.

"Next time, wait for an answer before you do that!" I hissed. "If you don't, I'll be even worse than Inuyasha!"

"Gah! I'm sorry!"

I looked at him and growled quietly. I pushed myself up slowly, groaning loudly. I moved my feet forward when I could so I could stand up straight. I let out a moan of relief. I thought I wouldn't have had to suffer any more pain. Unfortunately those were the breaks... almost literally at times.

"Forget about it," I muttered under my breath. "Let's just get going."

Shippo had an uneasy look on his face. He nodded as he walked forward. I quickly followed him as he began to pick up speed. I was surprised. Shippo was pretty fast for a little guy. I actually had to accelerate my walking pace every now and then just to make sure I didn't lose him. Although I told him to slow down a couple times, he continued to move at his own pace. I knew that he either didn't pay attention or he didn't hear me. Either way, they were ending with the same results.

Although it took me a good deal to follow him, he was quite informative. He told me a rather large amount of information about the village. I wondered where and from whom he learned it from? It was most likely Lady Kaede. She was probably the most intelligent one here. I'd technically say I was more intelligent than most of the others because I have a better grip on technology. Then again, this is their land. I don't exactly know anything about this place.

There was one thing that still bugged me... who was that guy that brought me here? Was he someone from this time? Was he just someone else from my time? If that was the case... why didn't he just come meet me some other time, like when I was fourteen or fifteen? Why did he grab me around this specific time? And... why did he grab me in the first place? Did he really know if I was connected to Inuyasha? Hell, we may have been similar, but there was that chance that it was all just a coincidence. In terms of being an arrogant egotist, he's an even bigger one than I was! I was seriously hoping that this was all a mistake.

"Hitaro? Are you paying attention?"

"Huh? What was that?"

I blinked a couple of times as I lowered my gaze towards Shippo. He crossed his arms as he gave me an irritated look. I just stared at him.

"What are you so upset about?"

"I may be a kid, but that doesn't mean you can zone out on me!"

"Geez, sorry," I replied numbly. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

He growled quietly as he turned back around. Once again, he opened his mouth, saying pieces of information about the village. It was at this point that I got bored with the tour. If you were there, you could tell. My arms were crossed and I had a certain expression on my face. I will admit that something caught my attention. During the tour, Shippo was talking about a certain shrine.

"And this is where we hold the Shikon no Tama!"

"The what?"

"The Shikon no Tama! Boy you're dense."

When he said that, my eyes narrowed. My hand turned into a fist, with a couple of the fingers twitching. Shippo saw this. A panicked look grew on his face. He back up a few steps. I inched forward with that same evil look on my face.

"Could you say that again?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean that!"

"You better not have," I muttered. "Now... what were you saying about this?"

"Um... it's where we hold the jewel. It can give immense power to demons. Even one shard can make it extremely powerful!"

"And how do you know that... about how one shard is so powerful?"

"Um... Kagome shattered the jewel a long time ago. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku, along with my..."

"Sango and Miroku?"

"Oh! They're some friends of ours! Sango's a demon hunter. She's been killing demons for a long time now! But, she's one of the last ones of her village besides her brother. She's been with us for about a year now. As for..."

"She cute?" I asked.

"What!"

"I asked you... if Sango is cute?"

"Well... she is pretty, but she..."

I grinned. I had an instant image of her in my head. Oh boy, how I would have liked to meet her! Shippo had something else planned in mine. He growled quietly. He grabbed a small stone and tossed it at me. It made contact with my head and bounced back onto the ground. I grunted loudly as I grabbed the spot where the stone made contact with my skull. I growled quietly as I slowly turned my head to face Shippo.

"What was that for!"

"You're as bad as Miroku!"

"Him... you were just about to tell me about him."

"He's a lecherous monk that doesn't stop bothering women."

I growled quietly as I felt my hand curl into a fist again. I crossed my arms, and looked away, closing my eyes as I did so. My eyebrow twitched.

"You seem to forget that I'm as violent as Inuyasha too. Oi. Let's just get on with info on the jewel."

"There isn't a lot more I can tell you," Shippo said. "I think Myoga said it was accidentally created by another demon hunter or priestess. It's supposed to be her spirit or something like that."

Shippo stopped to think to himself. As he did however, he realized I was missing. He blinked a couple of times. He turned his head left and right, trying to find out where I disappeared too. When he turned around, he saw me walking towards the shrine. He growled quietly.

"Hey! I wasn't finished yet!"

"Listen Shippo, your tour's interesting and all, but seeing an all powerful jewel in another time zone is a once in a lifetime event. It wouldn't hurt to check it out, right?"

Shippo had a rather disappointed look on his face. He groaned quietly and looked down on the ground as he crossed his arms. Feh. If he wanted to stay put, I didn't really care. The only thing I really cared about was getting out of this place. It was way too old for me. I'd probably go insane after a short amount of time. Than again, this place was pretty new to me (which was kind of ironic, because this was a time that was centuries older than mine), so there could have been some interesting stuff. I knew this as soon as I neared the shrine... I could sense something mysterious beyond the doors.

"All right... let's see what we got here!" I muttered quietly but excitedly.

I placed my hand on the handle built into the door. I pulled it open slowly to the side. Dusted escaped from the trapped room when the fresh air swept inside, carrying it away as if the wind was kidnapping the dust. Light illuminated that dark and dank structure. The only other lighting I could see were some candles. I blinked a couple of times. This really was ancient. I didn't expect this place to look so old. Despite that, it still looked very clean and well kept.

I turned my head left and right, examining the surroundings inside. I was searching for the jewel. I knew it had to be in here somewhere. That was when I saw it. A saw a brief shimmer in the darkness of some shadows. It was a purple light (or something close too it). An wide grin grew on my face. That must have been it... the famed Shikon No Tama. I couldn't believe I was staring at a world famous jewel that would probably be worth a hell of a lot in my time.

My breathing became heavy as my pulse quickened. Never in my life had something this exciting occurred in my life. I've spent so much time sheltered in a run down home that I've never had a chance to even venture around for a purpose in life. I don't even know what's worthwhile in life. It just seems like nothing will work out for. But this... this gave a rush of ecstasy. In fact... I actually wanted to get closer.

My eyes widened as my grin faded away. I felt like I was in a trance. My thoughts were wiped away from my mind; all despair was nonexistent; I didn't have a care in the world. Why did I feel so serene? What was pulling me closer to that small ball of glass? Why did I desire it so much?

_"Grab the jewel,"_ a voice said. _"You'll feel happy your whole life. You can feel like this forever. Nothing else can make you feel this good."_

I shuddered silently with anticipation. Without thinking, I stretched my arm forward. My feet still moved forward as if they had a mind of their own. My fingers were twitching. They were tingling; a pulsating energy being emitted from the jewel danced on my hand. Out of the blue, one thought popped into my mind: grab the jewel. I wanted to grab the jewel and run off with it. The vibration rubbing against my skin and bones... it felt so good.

I wanted more of it. I wanted to feel that energy throughout my whole body. Soon, I would. I was just inches away from it. A small part of me exhorted me to go back. However, I would not listen. Nothing seemed to stop me now. Well... nothing that was a part of me anyway. A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the wrist. I gasped quietly as I suddenly snapped out of my trance. I twisted my head to look at the hand that grabbed me.

The hand looked like a normal sized hand, but it had a firm grip. The sleeve was a bright red and had stitching, sewing up the extra cloth in the bottom. My face went pale. That could not have been who I thought it was. I slowly rose my head, my eyes following the arm. Soon, the hair became visible. It was long hair with a sterling silver color that may have been white. The colors were too similar. Either way, I knew who it was. I rose my head to finally look at the face of the person had stopped me. My face went whiter than my natural hair color. It was Inuyasha... and he looked really ticked.

"What the hell were you doing?" he asked angrily.

I tried to say something, but I was dumbfounded. Where did he come from! I began babbling, trying to say that I was just having a look. For some reason, I just couldn't speak straight. I was looking around everywhere, including at the hand that held onto my wrist. When I saw the hand, I quickly regained my composure. My dumbfounded look was replaced with a cold expression. I pulled my hand back, removing my arm from his grip. I rose my head and gave a cold stare. I growled quietly.

"I was having a look around," I said calmly.

"Yeah... right," Inuyasha replied wryly. "It looks like you were having more than a look around here. If you ask me... you were about to-"

"I wasn't doing anything!" I interjected. "I was just having a look around! That's all! I wanted to get a closer look at the jewel! All right!"

Inuyasha growled quietly. He shot his hand forward and grabbed me by the shirt. He pulled me closer to his face. I grunted loudly as a surprised look grew on my face. Inuyasha glared at me. All though he may have looked threatening there, I didn't let it get to me. I've fought tougher people before. Than again... he was a hanyou... and those were probably a bit harder.

"Listen kid... you may think you're tough just because you get into some fights everyday in the present. But ya know what? This place is completely different. Messing with the unknown is a bad idea, and if you touch that jewel, I guarantee you that something bad will happen to you. I'm pretty sure you don't want to find out what though."

I growled loudly. I never took to kindly to those threats. I pushed Inuyasha away from me. He let go of me and backed up several feet. He continued to glare at me. I was aware that what I just did probably would have made things worse. However, I didn't really care. I looked away from him and began walking towards the door. I wanted to get out of here. Right now, I did not want to be near him. It was obvious that he would riding my back my whole stay here. Even as I tried to pass by Inuyasha, he was still talking to me.

"Hitaro! Don't think that because you're from the present that you're any smarter here! You'll probably just get fried by the next youkai that comes your way!"

"Get off my back!" I shouted. "Do you think I care! I don't give a crap if a youkai comes and bites my head off, sucks out my soul, eats me... or... does... whatever! I don't care! If I die, things will probably be better for all I know!"

I turned around and continued my walk to the outside of the hut. Inuyasha growled loudly. He started after me, stretching out his hand and clasping his hand on my shoulder. He pulled me to the side, spinning me around and pushing me against the wall. I gasped quietly by the surprise of Inuyasha's action.

"Kid, don't give me that self-pity crap. No one will feel sorry for you by wallowing to yourself, especially here. No one knows you. You're an unknown kid who's been traveling for all they care."

I glared at Inuyasha, giving him a cold stare.

"Better a nobody than a reject," I hissed.

Inuyasha gave me a surprised look. I quickly pushed his arm away from me and continued walking down the path out of this place. Inuyasha did not say anything, but he stared at me, dumbfounded by the last thing I said. Soon, his eyes narrowed as he let out a low growl. His lip twitched as he tried to hold in whatever anger he could.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why should I tell you?" I asked him coldly.

I pushed open the doors of the shack. A bright light poured into the room. My eyes began to sting, but I ignored the menial pain. I simply continued to march out of the building and straight to the path that would lead to the well. Inuyasha just stood there, keeping his eyes trained on me like a wolf stalking its prey. He scowled quietly and looked away. Shippo was sitting right outside of the door. When Shippo saw me, his head followed my path. A curious look grew in his eyes. He quickly stood up and began to follow me.

"Hitaro? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I said under a grunt.

"You look angry about something."

"It's nothing, no go away. I need to be alone."

"Did Inuyasha say something?"

"He's always saying something," I replied with gritted teeth.

"What did he say?"

"It's nothing that you need to know."

"Why won't you tell me anything!"

"WHAT PART OF I NEED TO BE ALONE DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!"

Shippo jumped with a yelp as I shouted at him. I was staring at him with agitation. I could feel a vein popping out from my forehead. I let out a quiet growl as I turned around and continued down the dusty road that led towards the forest. Now I knew why Inuyasha hated him! He wouldn't shut up! I wanted to forget what I said about him being all right. He would drive someone insane... namely me!

Anyway, I was walking along the road, passing by the numerous huts and homes. People were staring at me as I passed them by. They all had different looks. Some gave me looks of curiosity, others gave looks of fear, and a few people gave me looks of impression. I didn't care though. It wasn't like I'd be seeing these village idiots again anytime soon. I wanted to get out; I wanted to go home and get on with my crappy life. At least there I'd be used to being bossed around.

After a short while, I was "inside" the forest, walking along the path that rested under the umbrage of the trees. My arms were tightly crossed. My eyes, however, were less constricted to a stationary position. They were wondering around, rolling left and right, scanning the environment around me. Although I didn't show an expression of impression, I was extremely surprised and captivated by everything around me. This place... it seemed so lush and alive. It was nothing like my home. There, everything was about as alive as a cadaver. I would be lucky to find anything this... vivd in my home.

A small grin grew on my face. It felt odd. I actually felt somewhat in tune with everything around me. I felt less tense and worrisome. I had not felt like that for a while. I have to say that the feeling was more than relieving compared to the everyday tension I was forced to endure. Things actually seemed pleasurable. It was almost like I was touching the jewel again. This serenity... why couldn't everyday? Why did it seem so much greater here? I closed my eyes and shook the thoughts out of my head. I groaned quietly. I couldn't listen to these thoughts. I was going home and that was final I told myself. I had to leave.

With those thoughts I quickened the pace. The grass and dirt emitted loud crunches as my steps became faster. However, whenever I wanted to move faster, I found myself slowing down. For some reason, I did not want to let my eyes off of anything around me. It was so new that I couldn't but feel some sort of amazement and awe. It was odd that something so different and pointless could catch my attention so easily. This alone probably would have made me want to stay, but another thought infringed upon my temporarily peaceful mind... Inuyasha. Suddenly the cool thoughts disappeared and were replaced by what he said earlier.

_"Kid, don't give me that self-pity crap," the voice echoed. "No one will feel sorry for you by wallowing to yourself, especially here. No one knows you. You're an unknown kid who's been traveling for all they care."_

I growled loudly. There was a rustling in the trees, following by rapid chirps and screeches from the birds. That Inuyasha... I didn't care about anything else. If he was around, I was not going to live here anytime soon. The nerve of that pompous idiot! I can't believe he said that about me! He doesn't know what it's like back at home! At least there I had people who actually knew what things were like for me! There were a couple of people who actually didn't fight with me all the time! Also... also... there wasn't much else to think about. That was it. I only had a couple friends back home, and that was the only thing that made it bearable. I groaned quietly. Maybe it wasn't as good as I thought. Still... home was home. I had to live there. Inuyasha was probably right about me. No! He was just flapping his mouth off!

"Wait... why am I thinking about this?" I asked myself. "This is not the place for me. It's too... provincial. There's no way I could live in a place like this."

As soon as I said that, something caught my eye. Off in the distance, past the trees, and smack dab in the middle of a clearing, I saw a wooden frame, built in the shape of a perfect square. My eyes widened. The well was right there; just yards away from me was the "rabbit hole" that would lead me home. I felt my feet begin to twitch. They were trying to pull me along begging for me to run towards the well. My mind thought differently. Although I wanted to run, I almost felt like there was no reason. I felt no emotion upon seeing it... only indifference. I tried to ask myself why that was the case? I was finally going home, getting away from Inuyasha and those crazy villagers that almost killed me. I'd be in a place where people actually knew me... and ignored me... and beat me. I shook the thoughts from my head yet again.

_Don't focus on the negative. Just think of the positive things. Go, go go! Run! I'm almost home! I just... need... to... run! NOW!_

I finally complied with my legs and feet, who yearned for me to run towards the well. My compliance was gradual though. My feet began to walk forward, as if they were acting on their own, fighting against my resistance. Soon, I broke into a jog, letting my legs loosen up, breaking the resistance that was holding them back. Soon, I began to move my legs on my own, breaking into a sprint. I began to pump my arms to speed myself up. The well grew larger in my eyes as I neared it. I stared at it with anticipation, never blinking for a moment, while a grin began to slowly grow on my face. Getting home was all I could think about as my speed gradually increased. All I wanted to do was go home. I wanted to get away from here. I didn't ask myself any more questions. I was going home! At least... that's what I thought until I actually got to the well.

When I was just several feet away from the well, I jumped up a few feet into the air and landed on the top of a beam of the well's wooden frame. The huge grin that I had while I was running towards the well was still on my face. I chuckled quietly, leaning forward to peer into the darkness of the deep square hole. The shadows made the well look dark, even in the daylight. In fact, it seemed darker than the night sky. Although that would deter most people from entering such a place, that was not factor that affected me.

I took in a deep breath a exhaled loudly. I stared at the hole, waiting for myself to jump into a seemingly bottomless pit. However, I didn't find myself jumping at all. A minute passed, and all I did was stare at the blackness which lied before me. My grin began to disappear, and the happy look on my face began to deteriorate. For some reason, I my thoughts became clear to me; I realized that there was something wrong with me. I wanted to go to a place that I had been wanting to leave. All I my life, I had been trying to escape that hellish life, desiring only to have a sense of freedom. My eyes narrowed as my head sank a bit. When I realized that... I didn't feel like going home anymore. I groaned quietly.

_What the hell was I thinking? Why did I want to go back? I had nothing there. Maybe... I'll stay here a little longer. At least... until I sort everything out._

"Hey, kid," a voice said from behind me.

"GAH!"

I was completely surprised by the voice. It made me jump forward a bit... enough for me to have more than half of my feet hanging over the edge of the beam. My body began to lean forward, getting ready to fall down into the well. I was groaning quietly as I swung my arms backwards to regain my balance. My efforts proved futile as my body still fell forward. I gasped loudly as my feet finally gave way, making my body nearly flip forward.

"Not again!"

I thought that I was doomed end to end up back in my own time. I knew that I couldn't really do anything to stop the fall. Fortunately, luck was on my side. Right when I was about fall past the point of no return, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the back of my shirt. I grunted loudly as I felt a tug and my feet landing on the vertical side of a wooden beam. I was staring at the darkness again. My eyes grew wide with fear, surprise, and (surprisingly) relief. I could feel beads of sweat escaping from the pores of my forehead, sliding down the side of my face, and letting go to simply plummet towards the earth. I was only thinking one thing while I "stood" there: please don't let go, whoever has me.

I felt a strong pull. I gasped loudly as I was pulled up onto the surface of the ground with ease. It felt like a weightlifter did it. I didn't even think that I would find myself being pulled over one of the wooden beams (considering it was a couple feet high and I was in a position for it to be rather difficult to do so). I landed on my feet, but I was still trying comprehend everything that was happening. As soon as I landed on the ground, I lost my balance, staggering backwards and falling over. I grunted when my body made impact with the dirt. There was a quiet thud and a small amount of dust and dirt flew up into the air.

I found my myself staring at a small patch of grass, still dazed by everything that had just just happened. I shook my head a bit, tapping my head a bit with an open hand. I muttered something under my breath and rubbed my eyes. I pulled my hand back and blinked a couple of times. As soon as I did that, I found myself staring at a pair of feet... bare feet... with red pants (a pair affiliated with battle garments). My head slowly began to elevate, revealing more of the person who grabbed me in the nick of time. He wore a red battle kimono, which had were cut at the shoulders. He also had a sword (still sheathed) attached to the left side of his knotted belt. I felt my face grow pale. I knew exactly who it was. I rose my chin just a little bit more to see the face of the person who "saved" me. It was Inuyasha.

Oh crap. What's he doing here!

Inuyasha was staring at me with his usual intense look. His eyes looked cold and his brows were almost furrowed (I mean the "tick me off and I'll beat you" furrowed). I moaned quietly. I prayed that he wasn't going to do anything. Funny thing... he didn't really do anything at all. He just looked at me for a little bit. After what seemed to be like several minutes (I knew it wasn't that long, but when Inuyasha stares at you like the way he did to me, time seems to slow down), he stuck out a hand. My eyes sank, staring at his hand. My eyes soon switched back to Inuyasha, giving him surprised look.

Okay, this has got to be some kind of trick.

"Well?" Inuyasha started. "Do you need a hand or are you just gonna sit there?"

I snapped myself out of my daze. I looked at his hand again, staring at it with my still surprised look. I couldn't believe that he was offering me help. I rose an eyebrow in confusion for a second, but I soon convinced myself that he was being serious. I sighed quietly as I stuck my right hand out and grabbed his. He pulled me up to my feet with one quick tug. I stared at Inuyasha as he helped me up, though. I was curious as to why he showed up when he did.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"No problem."

"Er... Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh... just out of curiosity, why are you here?"

Inuyasha rose an eyebrow as he continued to stare at me for a bit. He grunted quietly as he crossed his arms. I was beginning to wonder if he came here on his own free will. Then again, this was Inuyasha we were talking about. I knew he hadn't come here by his own.

"Kagome saw you walkin' off after we had that 'talk' in the shrine," he explained. "Kagome got a bit worried, so she asked me if I could look for you and make sure you didn't get into any trouble."

My eyes widened when he told me that. That one word (concerned) was one that I thought I would never hear, at least revolving around me. Out of all honesty, even my friends didn't really have any "concern" for me. Hearing that word said to me was like hearing for the first time ever. I was completely dumbfounded.

"Concerned?" I asked Inuyasha.

"Yeah. By the looks of it, you were having some kind of trouble."

I nodded. It was a bit of an instantaneous one though. I didn't do on my own whim; my body had been responding by itself, almost like my mind was a separate entity from my body. Inuyasha looked at me for a couple of seconds. He let out a quiet "humph" and began to walk off. My eyes and head followed Inuyasha for a bit. My gaze than changed to the well. One question made me want to look at it: why didn't Inuyasha let fall so we'd be out of each other's hair? You'd think he would have been happier had I fallen.

"Hey kid!" Inuyasha called out. "You comin' or not!"

I shook my head, snapping myself out of the deep thought I was in. I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. I blinked a couple of times, trying to comprehend the fact that _he_ asked _that_ question. At first I fumbled with my words, trying to ask him a question of my own.

"I thought you wanted me to leave?" I asked with confusion.

"Yeah, well... with the way you hesitated, it looked like you didn't want to go back. You prefer being an unknown more than a reject like _me_?"

When he said "me," I flinched. There was something in the way that he said that word that made me uncomfortable. Inuyasha was staring at me with the oddest look as well. It looked like he was glaring at me, but at the same time, I could see a grin. Of course, when he said that, I groaned quietly. Apparently my message came across the wrong way. Inuyasha turned around again and began to walk back towards the village. I wasn't paying any major attention to him, but when I realized that he was leaving, I gasped quietly and quickly made myself go after.

"Inuyasha!" I called.

Inuyasha stopped abruptly and turned his head around to face me. I was slowing down to a stop as I neared him. I looked at him with an indifferent face that looked completely different from the usual cold looks I gave. I was pretty sure that this surprised him, although he didn't really show it. I was staring at him, trying to talk to him about those words.

"What it is, kid?"

"Uh, listen, Inuyasha? About that..."

"Yeah?"

I was staring at him with a twitching mouth. I tried to tell him what I wanted to tell him, but my lips wouldn't move the right way. For some reason, they didn't want what meant to come out. No matter how hard I tried, I fumbled like I was trying to speak another language and was failing miserably. After a while, I just gave up trying to spit out the five words I wanted to tell him. I moaned quietly to myself. I took in a deep breath and sighed as I gave him a wave of dismissal. I'd just tell him later.

"Forget it," I said. "It's nothing important. I'm just gonna come along with ya."

Inuyasha eyed me for a bit. He shrugged his shoulders and muttered something under his breath (most likely whatever). He turned around and began to walk back towards the village. I looked away and let out a quiet sigh. I was glad that he at least calmed down... enough to not kill me anyway. This thought made me turn my head towards the well. I stared at it for several seconds, asking myself one last question before leaving... would it really have been worth it if I went back? Would things be better over there than they could have been here? The only answer was no. Nothing could have been worse than my home life. With that, a grin grew on my face. I chuckled quietly as I gave the well one last glance and turned away, walking away from one of the only chances to go home.

"Inuyasha!" I called out. "Wait up!"

I broke into a quick sprint. Inuyasha turned his head to look at me, still walking at his constant speed. He scoffed quietly as he turned his head away. I looked at Inuyasha with an odd look as I slowed down upon getting next to him. I rose an eyebrow and stared at him. I grunted quietly under my breath and turned my head away. I should have known he'd do that. At least he paid attention to me. I didn't know why, but I didn't mind the attitude he had. It made me feel that someone was at least noticing me. Despite this, we didn't really talk. The only time we talked was when we came across a tree. Apparently, something pretty significant happened there.

While we were walking back to the village, I didn't notice Inuyasha stopping at first. When he stopped, I just kept on walking, I was looking around, simply trying to get a view of all the surroundings. I turned my head to speak to Inuyasha, only to find him no longer next to me. I let out a puzzled grunt, turning my head left and right. I saw him a few yards behind me. A surprised look grew on my face. He was staring at the tree that I mentioned. His face... it looked... more relaxed and mournful. His intense look that he usually had was gone. He actually looked vulnerable right there.

_What's up with him?_

I turned myself around to fully face Inuyasha and walked towards him. I wasn't sure if he noticed me, because as I got closer, he did not break his gaze. He just stared at the same tree. When I was nearly right next to him, _I_ began to stare at _him_. The surprised look on my face was still there. I turned my head to look at the tree Inuyasha was staring at. What was so important about that hunk of wood and leaves?

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha grunted quietly and turned his head towards me. Apparently he really _wasn't_ paying attention to me. He simply gave me a surprised look.

"W-what do you want!"

"I was wondering why you... spaced out?" I asked.

Inuyasha rose an eyebrow. I expected him to give me some sort of snap-back, telling me to shut up and mind my own business. I was surprised by his reaction, however. Instead of giving me a comeback, he simply let out a sigh and crossed his arms. His head sank a bit, but he rose his head to look at the tree again. My eyes narrowed with curiosity. I stepped forward a few more steps, turning my head get a look at the tree that Inuyasha was staring at. The tree looked like every other tree... although it looked larger than most other trees that were around it. I scoffed quietly.

"What's so special about this hunk of wood?" I asked.

Inuyasha's lip twitched when I said that. I grunted quietly as a panicked look grew on my face. I took a couple of steps back, thinking that Inuyasha was about to do something. I was shuddering quietly to myself. However, Inuyasha did nothing. He turned his head a little bit to look at me, but other than that, he made no other movements. Inuyasha's expression didn't even change. When I noticed this, I relaxed. My muscles became less tense and I looked less worried.

"A few things happened here," he replied. "Well... something _led up_ to me ending up here, anyway."

"Like what?" I asked.

Inuyasha seemed to be in deep thought again. He looked over at the tree briefly. He then turned his head to look at me. He let his arms drop to his side before he began explaining everything.

"A good while ago... some things happened. I met a priestess name Kikyo. She was a powerful one who was in charge of protecting the Shikon no Tama... that jewel you saw earlier. I'm pretty sure you know that the jewel can give a lot of power to any demon who has it. Now here's the thing that I'm sure you _don't _know. That jewel also has the power to turn demon's in to human. Well... Kikyo and I... we loved each other... and she offered me the chance to be human."

"So let me guess, you said no?"

"NO!" Inuyasha shouted. "Anyway... I said yeah. She was going to make me human... but something happened. Things went wrong."

"What, she left you alone, or she screwed up?"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME FINISH THIS! What happened... was that she was tricked. She was taking care of someone named Onigumo. He wanted Kikyo badly, but he couldn't have her. He ended up giving up his body for demons to feast on so he could be a demon as well. He got his wish. When he did, the first thing he did was pretend to be me and attacked Kikyo. She was still alive, so she went after me. She started shooting at me for what I thought was for no apparent reason. I thought I was betrayed... so I went for the Shikon no Tama to make myself a Youkai. But before I could get away, Kikyo shot me with an arrow... and it pinned me to that tree. She died about a minute later."

I let out what sounded like a mix of a gasp and a grunt. I was surprised. I had no idea that it was _that_ important. I had to say that I almost felt sorry for him. It must have sucked for him. I groaned quietly. I suppose I had to say something.

"Sorry to hear about that," I replied in an indifferent tone. "How long were you pinned to that tree?"

"About fifty years."

I grunted loudly as another surprised look grew on my face. I stared at Inuyasha with disbelief. He did not just say what I thought he said.

"Did you say... fifty... _years_! But how... you look... kya!"

Inuyasha nodded. I was gasping quietly under my breath. How could he be that old! He looked eighteen! What, did he not age at all or something! I was scratching my head wildly, trying to get everything straightened out.

"Okay, how could you still look... like you do after fifty years! YOu should be an old man by now!"

"That arrow... it put in a deep sleep. It was enchanted, almost freezing me in time... or something like that. Besides, I'm a hanyou. I last longer than humans, remember?"

I eyed Inuyasha incredulously. Despite everything that's happened, I still found that to be a bit impossible in comparison. I didn't even want to ask about it though. I let out a quiet sigh as I shook my head.

"Let's just get going," I said.

I turned around and started to walk off. Inuyasha took a quick glance at the tree with his usual intense look and quickly went after me. I shoved my hands into my pocket and stared straight ahead of the path. I was pretty sure that we were almost out of the forest. At least, I hoped we were almost out.

"Hey... Hitaro."

"What is it?"

"Before we get out of this place, there's one more thing I need to take care of."

I grunted quietly. What else did this guy need to do here! Was one of his parents buried here two? He made something out of another tree here! I groaned quietly as I took my hands out and crossed my arms. I took in a deep breath and sighed, not turning around to look at Inuyasha.

"What do you need to do now?" I asked.

Inuyasha didn't say anything. In fact nothing happened for a couple seconds. As I continued to think about exactly _what_ Inuyasha wanted, I got my answer. Out of nowhere, BAP! I felt a strike on the back of my head. I yelled out in pain as I grabbed my head and fell to the ground. I moaned loudly in pain as Inuyasha took several steps forward so he was standing above me. I opened one of my eyes to look at Inuyasha. A satisfied grin grew on his face as he crossed arms. I growled loudly as flames were being ignited in my eyes.

"What the hell did you do that for!" I asked with gritted teeth.

"_That _was for the 'stupid tree' and 'reject' comments you made earlier," he replied. "Now were even."

"No were not! I made comments and you made a _fist_! That is _not_ fair!"

"It seems fair to me," Inuyasha said.

He stretched out hi arm and grabbed my by the back of the collar of my shirt. He pulled me, helping me get back to my feet. I was still grabbing my head, groaning quietly in pain. I was certain that even _he_ didn't know how strong he was. I glared at Inuyasha as he began to walk off. That pick-me-up did not make us even, I could definitely say that.

"Thanks," I muttered, glaring at Inuyasha.

I could hear him chuckled under his breath. I growled quietly as my arms quickly plopped to my side. I shook my head, muttering various curses under my breath. I knew I was practically powerless to do anything, so I decided to let it go. It was gonna be hard, I could tell you that. I would especially be hard with what I did when we got back to the village.

We had finally got out of the forest. Inuyasha and I were walking down the path towards the village. Upon exiting the forest, the village was already in sight. I let out a sigh of relied. I was glad we were finally out of that place. Out of all honesty, after Inuyasha told me the importance of that one tree, the whole place in general felt... depressing, despite being as interesting as it was. I had to get out of there. When we did, I took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"About time we got out of there!" I exclaimed. "Now I can rest!"

"Don't count on it kid. Kagome, Shippo, and I are leaving. There's no way you'd have any time to rest."

I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. He had an eager look on his face. I rose an eyebrow. This guy seemed to have nothing on his mind except for going on adventures and fight. My God... he really _did _have a lot in common with me. I sighed loudly. I would not be surprised if this guy was my brother... or father at that. Considering that everyone else thought that Inuyasha and I had some sort of connection, I really had no choice but to believe it. Now that we had one thing taken care of, I had to take care of another thing.

"So... you think she'll listen?" I asked Inuyasha.

"Good question," he replied. "She can be pretty stubborn."

I scoffed loudly. She may be stubborn, but she's never met me. I could be as stubborn as a bull if I wanted to. Not once had I been forced to back down. I've had people who tried to beat me down do it. What made Inuyasha think that _I _couldn't handle her? Was it the fact that he... couldn't? My eyes widened. All of a sudden, I thought I was screwed. I shuddered under my breath.

"Great. Now I don't have any confidence."

"Well, consider this training, kid," Inuyasha said with a sick grin.

I turned my head to face him. I glared at him with a spark of hate. He was really not making things easier, that was for certain. I growled quietly as I turned my head to look straight ahead down the path again. Of course, my eyes wonder a bit. They examined my surroundings, scanning nearly everything that went on. There were mostly farmers around us, doing there normal work, picking foods, chopping grain, and so on. However, there were other things going on as well. Every now and then a group of kids ran by, playing around, laughing like they were having the time of their lives. There were also a couple people walking down the opposite way that Inuyasha and I did. They were talking to each other with sincere smiles on their faces. They were totally serene. It was almost as if not a single trouble was bothering them.. I eyed them as they walked past us. They didn't even pay attention to Inuyasha and I.

_How could they be so trouble free? How could they be so relaxed that nothing bothers them? Why... can't I live like that?_

"Inuyasha!" someone called out. "Hitaro!"

I grunted quietly. I shook my head, snapping myself out of the daze. I looked straight ahead. Kagome was calling us. She was waiting by a bike, waving a hand in the air to catch our attention. Standing by the bike was Shippo, hopping up and down a bit upon seeing us. Inuyasha chuckled quietly.

"I guess they were ready a lot sooner than I thought. Well kid, it's now or never."

"Right."

Inuyasha and I broke into a brief run, hurrying up to get towards Kagome and Shippo as quickly as possible. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Upon nearing Kagome and Shippo, I slowed to a walk. Inuyasha stopped right behind me. Kagome was still smiling. I turned my head to look at Shippo. He gave me a small wave. I smiled weakly and gave him a small wave. I turned my head to look at Kagome. I gave her a weak grin.

"Uh... hey."

"Well, I see you decided to stay," Kagome said with what looked like a relieved smile. "Was there something wrong?"

"Er... yeah... I guess you could say that. I figured I'd stay a bit longer."

"Oh?" Kagome muttered with surprise. "Um... this might sound a bit awkward, but were leaving. We need to check something Inuyasha, Shippo and I need to check something out."

"Yeah... I know about that. And that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

The surprise on Kagome's face grew. I wasn't sure if she knew where I was getting at, but she would soon find out for sure.

"W-what is it?"

"Kagome... I... I want to come along."

"What!" Kagome exclaimed.

"You do?" Shippo asked.

I nodded as I crossed my arms. I gave her a stern look, trying to show her I was being serious. Kagome was taken completely by surprise. She chuckled nervously as she began to scratch her head.

"Well... that might be a problem."

"Listen, you saw what I could do!" I replied. "I can hold my own! I do nothing but fight! Everyday, I have to go through the crap a bunch of others have to put me through. Hell, I lifted that boulder! I didn't even _know_ that I could do that! I'm sure I can be some sort of use!"

"Hitaro, fighting people is different from fighting youkais!" Kagome argued. "Those creatures we have to fight are extremely difficult to defeat! Even Inuyasha and I have trouble defeating them with Sango, Shippo, and Miroku.. uh a couple of friend-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Miroku's the perverted monk and Sango's the hot demon slayer. I got the idea. C'mon, Sango's human, and I'm sure she does fine!"

"That's because she _trains_ to fight them! She had experience! She was part of a clan of demon hunters, so she knows what to do! If she _was_ on her own, she'd be able to survive for a good while. You've had no experience at all! If you're smart, you'll know that experience outdoes anything."

I felt one of my eyebrows twitch. Inuyasha was right. It's only been thirty seconds and I could already tell she wasn't going to give in that easily. I was beginning to wonder if I was just going to slow things down for a good while if I even continued to protest with her. Unfortunately, I was not going to give in that easily. It was kinda funny. When I opened my mouth, someone else began to talk.

"Kagome, just let the kid go," Inuyasha said, intervening. "You know he he isn't going to give in that easily. Look at his face! He's pretty stubborn!"

"Yeah, like you," I muttered.

"Shut it!" Inuyasha replied. "I'm trying to help you!"

"Than help me all you want," I replied.

"Snobby brat," Inuyasha muttered. "Now listen Kagome, if he really _is _connected to me, he will not be quitting any time soon. He'll keep on yappin' until he falls unconscious. You'd have an easier time getting Miroku away from you."

Kagome stared at the both of us, either surprised by the fact that Inuyasha was helping me or by the fact that we were arguing while _I_ was trying to convince Kagome. Kagome rested the side of her face on her left hand. Her eyes sank down, as if in a deep thought. I could tell Inuyasha had a pretty could deal of control sometimes, which was pretty axiomatic here. Kagome sighed quietly as she made direct eye contact with us with a seemingly disappointed expression.

"You're not going to give up, are you?" Kagome asked.

I shook my head. I crossed my arms as a grin grew on my face. Kagome let out another sigh. She motioned for me to come along.

"All right. Just get your stuff and come with us."

"You mean Hitaro's coming with us?" Shippo asked with excitement.

"Yep... I guess."

Shippo seemed to cheer with delight. I could tell that he was happy... I guess because I wasn't as vengeful as Inuyasha. I chuckled quietly as my grin widened. I turned my head to look at Inuyasha. He was staring at Kagome. He then turned his head to face me. He rose an eyebrow, curious as to why I was grinning.

"Thanks," I said.

"Why?" he asked. "I knew you weren't going to give up, so I figured I might as well speed things up."

"Yeah... and like I said, thanks."

Inuyasha scoffed quietly under breath. He began to follow Kagome, who was getting on her bike. Shippo hopped up into the basket that was in the front. When Shippo was finally inside, Kagome lifted her foot and pushed down on the pedals, finally taking off down the path. Inuyasha quickly took off after her. When he caught up to her (within a couple of seconds), he turned his head to look at me.

"Hey, kid!" he called out. "Hurry up or we're leaving you behind!"

"Shut up!" I replied. "I'm comin'!"

Without a second more of hesitation, I broke into a quick sprint, running as fast as I could to catch up to Inuyasha, Kagome, and Inuyasha. I couldn't help but smile at everything that was happening to me right then and there. I was finally free from my old life, free from the hate and pain that followed me all my life. I could finally do what I wanted to and make something out of my life. I could finally be happy. I could finally... start a brand new life.


End file.
